THE MAFIA’S HEIR

LAURA’S POV

I was so excited when Mr Russo had informed me that Bianca was going to return today. Yes, the boss himself had told me. I’m sure the man was probably going to fire me from work the moment Bianca got back. I had the nerve to always go to his office, demanding to know when Bianca was gonna return from wherever he said she was. That was even what made it harder for me. I had no idea where she was! The first time I had stepped into his office to make an enquiry about Bianca was the fifth day after he returned from the conference, and I was still unable to reach her phone. I remember reaching out to her parents the day before, to know if she was okay, but was shocked to hear that Bianca hadn’t been home for days. According to them, Mr Russo had reached out to them just once, to let them know she had misplaced her phone. But after that, he never answered their numerous calls or replied their many text messages. That was definitely when I had started suspecting something fishy. It was unlike me, because on a normal day, I wouldn’t have mustered as much courage as it had taken me to walk up to Mr Russo’s office the next day, and demand to know where he had taken my friend. I guess Bianca was making me go out of my way to do things I’d normally never do. In a way, I loved it. Mr Russo seemed to have been suprised at my guts, but I really didn’t care. I just wanted to know if my only friend was safe. I may sound so normal now, but only God knows how scared and worried I had been for Bianca. The fact that I hadn’t an idea of what was actually going on, only plagued me the more.

During those weeks when I’d go crazy with the excessive work Ricardo would make me do, I would go for lunch, hoping that Bianca would suddenly appear at the table and threaten to bite Ricardo’s head of his neck. Yeah, Ricardo ended up being my boss as speculated, and it hasn’t been such a wonderful experience. He hardly spoke to me or made jest of me like he used to do. He had actually stopped doing so for a while, ever since Bianca had showed up at the Fernando’s residence. But then, the great amount of work he made me do, only showed me that was his new way of bullying me. Sometimes, I would be so busy that I wouldn’t be able to go out for lunch, but he’d suprise me by returning to the office and dropping my lunch on my desk. I guess that was what made me more confused. These days, I couldn’t say for sure if he hated me or not. Why did he suddenly start bringing me lunch? It was more annoying because the more lunch he brought, the more work he assigned to me. Shit was crazy! Worse still, I was no longer in my former office, where I could interact with other workers, so I was always lonely. With the promotion, Ricardo was assigned a new office and as his assistant, I was made to move into the smaller office attached to his.

Mr Russo had informed me yesterday that Bianca was gonna resume work today. Because of that, I had stayed late at work last night, trying to work ahead of today, so I didn’t have so much work to do. I really wanted to be able to make good use my lunchtime today and spend some time with Bianca. I would have actually gone over to the Bianchi’s home last night, but I remembered Madame Beatriz had wanted to speak with me once I returned from work. I knew it was going to be a discussion about Ricardo, and I wasn’t wrong.

The poor woman was still worried about her son, and it made me sad that I couldn’t be of any help to her, except letting her know if he showed up at work everyday and if he seemed fine. Ricardo had moved out of the Fernando’s residence a week after Bianca’s disappearance and ever since then, he hardly came over to the house. The only place I had the opportunity to see him was at work, and he never really made it easy for me to talk with him.

Today, I was very early to work and was suprised to see that Ricardo was already on seat. The quiet noises coming from his office only proved me right. I stepped out to get his coffe from the nearby cafe and returned to the office building with two cups of coffee in my hand. I could really make do with a cup today. The stress that I had gone through last night was enough to make me feel sleepy at work today. Just as I was about to step into the elevator, I heard someone call my name.

“Laura!” I turned back to see a familiar looking man walking towards me. I sighed when the elevator closed shut in front of me. He seemed to have noticed my frustration and the next thing he did suprised me. “Here.” He took the two cups of coffee from my hand. “Let me help you with those.” The moment he held the cups, he gave a sigh of his own. “As hot as I thought.” He chuckled, making me smile. It was then that I remembered who he was. He was the head of unit at the previous department I was assigned to work, before becoming Ricardo’s assistant.

“Mr Federico.” My smile widened.

“You know,” He pressed the button of the elevator and it opened. “No one had seen Mr Fernando’s promotion coming.” He said, stepping into the elevator and I followed behind.

“Yeah, no one had.” I nodded. “Thank you for helping me with the cups.” I muttered.

“You’re welcome Laura.” He smiled nervously, making me wonder why. “You were the best newbie in my unit only a couple of weeks back. Had I known that Fernando was going to be assigned your new boss as a result of his promotion, I would have written a letter to the boss, to have you stay back in my unit.” His words came to me as a surprise because we barely spoke to one another while I worked under him. If not for the small smiles he always plastered on his face whenever I went to his office to submit a work file, I would have thought he was a snob.

“Thank you?” It wasn’t supposed to come out as a question, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“I hope your new boss doesn’t stress you so much?” He asked, before rolling his eyes and nodding his head as if realizing something. “What am I even saying? I know he makes you do a lot of work.” It didn’t come as a suprise hearing him say that. Everyone at my former unit definitely had an idea about how Ricardo bullied me. That last time he had hidden my glasses, I literally had to work all day without them, making my eyes hurt so badly after the day’s work was done. To be very honest, I had every reason to hate the rotten man, but I guess the love I had for his parents was an atonement for all the sins he had committed against me. “You’re hardly out during lunch, so I’m quite right about my assumptions.” Mr Federico added, making me sigh lowly. I didn’t want him realizing he was right about his statement after all. “I always ask about you, but he always responds with the same answer. ‘She’s busy’. Did you get what I sent to you through him?”

On hearing him ask me that, I looked up at him in suprise.

“You sent a file to me?”

“Not a file, silly.” He chuckled. “Seeing as you think it’s a file, he certainly did not give it to you.” He looked sad for a moment, and it made me feel warm. It was clear that this man had sent me a gift of some sort.

“What did you send to me?” I asked curiously.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“Nothing much.” He shrugged. “Just a contact lens and blue light protection glasses.”

“You got me contact lens?” That was unexpected.

“Yes. I figured you wouldn’t have to worry about Ricardo’s silly pranks with your glasses, if you have your lenses inside your eyes.” He chose to use the words ‘silly prank’, knowing fully well that it was nothing but bully. He was looking out for me. Didn’t want me to feel bad because of his choice of words.

“But you don’t even know what eye defect I suffer from.” I chuckled. Just then, the elevator stopped and binged open. We both stepped out and continued walking towards my office.

“You suffer from Astigmatism Laura.” He said, almost as if lecturing me. “I definitely went through your file when you newly got hired. So I know what you suffer from, and I did my research. I actually have an older brother who is an optometrist. He said toric contact lens would be best for your eye defect. And the blue light protection glasses were because you tend to look closely at the desktop screen all day.” Wow! Wow. This man was definitely unusually thoughtful.

“I don’t know how to thank you.” I whispered, feeling quite touched. No one had ever thought so dearly for me. That was with and exception of Bianca and Ricardo’s parents. “Thank you.” I muttered. I might be a literal nerd who doesn’t have good sense of fashion, and a girl who gets bullied, but I am smart. I wasn’t dense, and I knew when someone cared about me. Maybe even liked me. I guess Mr Federico’s case was both, and it made me feel so nice. This was the fourth time someone was actually showing that much interest in me. In high school and college, I didn’t get so much attention from boys because I was the girl that RICARDO FERNANDO bullied. Now things were gradually changing, and so would I? It wouldn’t be such a bad idea to start dressing more nicely, would it? This would mean ‘bye to my comfy clothes’ though. I needed to start looking and living like every other young lady out there. That simply meant that I was never gonna let Ricardo treat me in a condescending manner again. Hearing Federico choose his words while talking to me, only made me feel weak.

“I actually know a way you can thank me though.” He smiled, and I already knew what was coming next. Dinner. “You could go out with me for dinner.” Told you guys! That honestly didn’t seem like a bad request. It made sense to me. Giving a small smile, I nodded.

“I would love to.”

“Perfect.” He grinned, clapping both hands like a child. “I would pick you up after today’s work is over?” He was asking. Suddenly, I grew self conscious and my smile dropped. He was wearing a suit, so he was definitely going to look presentable. I couldn’t say same for me though. I have watched a lot of movies that were enough for me to learn that baggy work shirts and nerdy glasses were definitely not what a lady wore to dinner.

“But I can’t go like this.” I muttered, looking down.

“Laura, I more interested in you, rather down your outfit.” I was very thankful that he didn’t go on to say that I looked just fine because then, I’d know he was lying and probably just wanted to get in between my thighs. For any other girl, it would have made her feel better, but not me. With a small smile and a warm pat on my arm, he announced his departure. “I’d see you later tonight.” He handed the cups of coffee back to me and walked away. It was then that I realized we had actually gotten to my office. I walked into my space and dropped one of the cups on my desk. I walked towards the connecting door to Ricardo’s office and I knocked against it, before pulling it open. When I stepped in, he looked to be extremely concentrated on the whatever he was watching on his tab. That was until I heard a feminine voice coming from the tab. Was he on a video call with that lady again? It had been this way since I had started working as his assistant. I guess he had newly gotten into a relationship. It was none of my business, but was he supposed to be doing that during working hours? My subconscious screamed at how hypocritical I was being. Only moments ago, had I fixed a dinner date with my former boss.

“Good morning sir.” I greeted, still feeling weird addressing him as my boss. I know it was already three weeks, but I highly doubted I’d ever get used to it.

“Morning.” He murmured, not sparing me a single glance as he signaled me to leave. I didn’t waste no time and walked out, making a mental note to enquire about the stuffs Federico had asked him to give me, later.

I went back to my desk and got busy with work and a few minutes before it was lunchtime, I sneaked out of my office and made for Bianca’s. I didn’t know why I felt doubtful that I was going to see her there, but the moment I was about knocking on her office door, it pulled open to reveal Bianca. Bianca! My heart was screaming and I was sure my face displayed my excitement as well. Immediately she realized I was the one, her eyes narrowed at me, making my heart drop. Wasn’t she happy to see me?

“Laura Marino!” She called. “For a minute I thought you didn’t love me anymore.” She suddenly pouted like a child, making my eyes go wide in a mix of shock and joy.

“Bianca!” I yelled, almost close to tears as we hugged each other. Bianca was a few inches taller than I was, so it felt like I was hugging my big sister.

“I missed you so much.” She muttered into my ear, before pulling away. She carefully looked at me and slowly shook her head disapprovingly. “You look stressed and tired. Oh my goodness! What has Ricardo been putting you through?”

“We definitely have a lot to tell each other.” I sighed. “Come, let’s go for lunch. We will catch up while at it.” She let me pull her along and we made our way to the cafteria.

“You got to be kidding me!” My eyes were as wide as saucers. I couldn’t believe all that Bianca had told me. Lunchtime her passed over ten minutes ago, but we were still talking at the cafteria. I had told Bianca all that had been going on since she left, likewise her. I couldn’t believe all she had told me. Most of all, I couldn’t believe Manuel Russo turned out to be such a douche. I know he didn’t owe Bianca anything, but he couldn’t have instigated having sex with her a second time, and acted like he didn’t know her afterwards. I was glad Bianca had made up her mind to put the memories behind, regardless of how much I knew she was really hurting.

“All of that asides.” She sighed, a small smile making its way to her beautiful face. “About your dinner date tonight.” She grinned. “I don’t care if he says he doesn’t care about your outfit, you should look like a snack!” She said.

“But it’s tonight. Neither do I really have any outfits that fits the occasion.”

“Worry not, my dear.” She grinned. “We would go shopping today. All we need is permission from my boss, and my credit card.”

“Your…” I was still talking when she cut me off.

“Yes, bills on me. It’s my way of saying I’m sorry for leaving you alone for three crazy weeks.” She gave a warm smile, making me feel so touched.

“Thank you.” I muttered.

“Anything for you.”

“So what excuse would you give Mr Russo?” I asked, and she gave a weird smile. I knew she was cooking up a devious plan in her head.

“Laura, don’t you think your eyes have been aching more frequently these days? We should go see the optometrist urgently.” She looked so serious that it took me quite a while to understand what she was doing. Eventually realizing what she was up to, I burst into laughter and she joined in. Ahhh… only God knew how much I missed her.

**********************************

I walked into the office, all smiles as I thought about my dinner yesterday. Federico was such a lovely and thoughtful man. He had treated me like a princess, and complimented me on how beautiful I looked. It had been all thanks to Bianca. She had taken me to a nearby mall after taking permission from her boss on the basis of going with me to visit my eye doctor. What shocked me was the number of dresses we had ended up getting, when I thought we were only going to get a nice dress for dinner. According to her, she hadn’t been making good use of her wardrobe allowance, and the huge incentive she had received for attending the ANAN conference was too much to not be shared. Because of that, we had to stop by at her house to drop a literal change of wardrobe at her place. I had gotten the opportunity to meet her sister’s family, who were over for a few days. Her sister had such a lovely family.

After that, she pulled me along to a place where she claimed I’d be given a magical makeover and true to her words, I didn’t feel the same after stepping out of there. My body felt new from the nuru massage I had been given. My hair, was on a different level, and my skin screamed ‘pampered’!!! I had been so excited because it was almost impossible to recognize myself after wearing my dress and light makeup that Bianca had done on my face. She hadn’t stopped screaming about how I was cutely petite with killer butts. I guess that was what my comfy baggy clothes did. Hide my curves. But last night, I was more than confident to show it off. I wouldn’t forget how Frederico couldn’t stop gaping when had come pick me from Bianca’s home. I had sent him a message that I wouldn’t be at work when the day was over. If I were him, that would have gaped at me that way too.

Now, it was a new day and dinner was over. I was back to feeling shy again. For the first time, I was wearing a body hugging gown to work and I felt different. I had received a couple compliments from my former colleagues, which honestly helped in boosting my confidence. I hadn’t slept over at the Fernando’s residence last night, because I had gone back to Bianca’s house. I made a mental note to call Madame Beatriz and let her know that all was well, and I was going to see her later in the day.

Silently, I prayed that I wouldn’t come across Federico this morning. All was definitely well, but I wondered how things were going to be between us from now on. He hadn’t asked me out because he was clearly trying to take things slowly. But then, I knew he was very much interested in me, and it made me sad because I realized I didn’t really feel that way towards him. All I felt towards him was genuine friendship, and it took dinner for me to figure that out. I actually felt bad in a way.

Thankfully, I got to my office without running into him, and was glad I already got coffee for Ricardo on my way in. I wouldn’t have a reason to step out again, except to see Bianca and tell her how my night had gone. When I had gotten to her place last night, she was already asleep, and I had woken up this morning to see she was already gone.

The moment I knocked and stepped into his office, he ended his routine call with that lady. He dropped his tablet on the work desk, and looked squarely at me.

“Good morning Sir. Your coffee.” I muttered, dropping his coffee on the desk. I couldn’t brush off the weird way I felt when he looked at me. What was it now?

“My mom had called me so late last night.” He simply muttered, and I quickly knew where this was headed. She had been worried about me. Before I could say a word, he beat me to it. “Don’t you think every responsible lady should be accountable to whomever acts as her guardian? You were probably so caught up enjoying yourself with Federico, that you failed to inform my parents of your whereabouts.” Oh my goodness! How did he know? My eyes went wide as he glared at me. “He posted you on his Instagram story last night.” He muttered with so much venom coating his voice. “Everyone in the office definitely knows you both are fucking each other now! Just like you wanted.” He spat!

Suddenly, I grew tired of it all. He would have just gone ahead ignoring me, and not dared to say all of the horrible things he just said to me. I lost it.

“Don’t you ever… speak to me that way again!!” I yelled out, suprising myself. He cornered his eyes at me, probably wondering what gave me such effrontery to speak back at him.

“And what would you do?!” He suddenly stood up and walked towards me, cornering me to the wall. “Huh? What the fuck would you do? Go out with a new guy from the office tonight? Probably dress so seductively and fuck him too?!!” And that was it! I did it. I slapped him! Oh Goddd!!!

“Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad idea! I could go out looking like a snack every night, rather than remain here as your bullied assistant!!” I yelled back, decided to use Bianca’s word of addressing me as a snack. He rubbed his check and smirked devilishly.

“That’s all you’ll ever be.” He chuckled, looking into my eyes. “A snack to be eaten and forgotten.”

I wonder what it had been that had made me feel so bad. Was it the fact that he looked me in the eyes like all he said was the truth? Or the fact that all his eyes held towards me was resentment? Whichever one it was, it made me tear up. All through the years I had been bullied by Ricardo, I had always cried. But not once had I let him see those tears fall down my eyes. Today was the first. Suddenly, he retreated backwards, as if rethinking his words.

“I’m really done with all of these.” I muttered, my head feeling extremely heavy. “For a moment, I had refrained from requesting they change my new place of duty because I wanted to be close to you and always make sure you were fine and alright. For the sake of Madame Beatriz. Now, I can see how stupid I had been to put the need of others before mine. I am done doing this with you. I would send a letter to Mr Russo, requesting that they change my position. I think we’d all feel better then.” I could fell my weak knees almost giving up under me. I only experienced that when I was extremely angry. Trying to remain steady, I walked out of his office, not answering him as I heard him call me back. I was done being answerable to him.